1. Field of the Invention
This invention deals with the art of automatically twisting the end of a wire such as an insulated wire.
2. Prior Art
In the electrical and electronic industry, insulated wires have been extensively used to make electrical connections, the insulation being stripped from the wire ends. The stripped ends are usually soldered to terminals, the conductive pattern of printed circuit bases and the like. It has been found desirable to twist the stripped wire ends to facilitate the soldering. One known wire end stripping and twisting apparatus comprises a cylindrical member driven by a motor for rotation about its axis. The cylindrical member contains a stripping and twisting mechanism which comprises a spring-biased cutter blade and a support element positioned in opposed relation to the cutter blade. The cylindrical member has an opening formed through its end, and the cutter blade and the support element are secured to the end adjacent to the opening. For stripping and twisting the wire end, the wire end is manually introduced between the cutter blade and the support element through the opening. The cutter blade is urged toward the support element by a spring so that the wire end is gripped by the cutter blade and the support element. Then, the cylindrical member is driven by the motor for rotation about its axis to cut through the insulation of the wire. At this time, the wire is manually withdrawn from the cylindrical member to strip the insulation from the wire end and at the same time to twist the wire end by the severed insulation, the severed insulation being held by the cutter blade and the support element during this stripping and twisting operation. Thus, the wire must be manually inserted into and withdrawn from the cylindrical member to effect the stripping and twisting operation. Such prior art apparatus has been found not satisfactory from a viewpoint of productivity. Such a manual operation has another disadvantage that the severed insulation fails to be kept to a predetermined constant length.